Illusions
by SilentThunder23
Summary: The desert is more complex then you think, sometimes Kankuro sees things. Kankuro-centric. Hinted NaruSaku.


**Original Series:** Naruto/Naruto Shippuden.

**Story Title:** Illusions.

**Summary:** The desert is more complex then you think, sometimes Kankuro sees things. Kankuro-centric.

**Character/s:** Kankuro. Others.

* * *

Gaara has a greater difficulty dealing with social situations then Kankuro and, no matter how much she seems to think otherwise, Temari has forgotten most of the things she learnt from being the Kazekage's daughter. Kankuro though, he remembers, all the things they taught him at such a young age (_it's stuck in his head_). The brunette just doesn't like to act formal and mature, he prefers to just be a shinobi, a human weapon for his country. He thinks maybe Temari and Gaara would get that.

Over time Gaara's social capabilities increase and Temari learns how to come across in a more talkative way, the pair begin to fit in more at important social functions. The puppeteer never tries to fit in though because he'd much rather be on a mission then at some fancy dinner to welcome representatives from some country for some alliance treaty signing. Kankuro will keep going to them until he knows for sure that neither Gaara nor Temari need him there for subtle support. The brunette thinks that day draws closer, and realises that maybe next time he won't need to come.

The next time Gaara and Temari are required for an important social function Kankuro is away on a mission, and everything runs smoothly.

---

The first time the puppeteer goes to Konoha is for the Chunnin exams. He doesn't look around or go out of his way to meet new people because he knows how this is all going to end, the puppeteer doesn't want to grow any form of attachment (_no matter how small_) to someone he may have to fight. Kankuro gains the job of watching Gaara, to make sure he doesn't draw attention to them. The brunette is easily distracted however and for a while he looks out over Konoha through his window and begins to lose track of time, lose track of his brother. Gaara comes home with his sand covered in blood.

The next time he visits is on much friendlier terms, with no hidden agenda, and he finally looks around. He thinks Konoha is kind of like the desert, sometimes you see things that shouldn't be there. Like a broken girl and a broken boy sitting together at a ramen stand with fake smiles acting like they can't see the other is in pain, slowly learning how to build a mask to cover all the pain. Kankuro knows why they look so broken, it's the reason he's here in the first place. The puppeteer decides that he may have been better off not looking around a place where so many people look hopeless, lost or blissfully unaware. The brunette begins to miss the large expanses of nothing that the desert is known for.

When he's older Kankuro sees Konoha as a completely different place, he thinks it's changed but it could just be him. Kiba drags his 'old friend' out for drinks with a group of other people and tells the puppeteer that he should write or visit more often, the Suna shinobi doesn't exactly get why the dog ninja would want him around more, he just tells him he'll try. Kankuro remembers the broken pair rather well, not just because they saved his brother's life (_and his own_) but because he just can't forget the two broken kids pretending to be whole in a town that seemed broken its self. They're different now (_different even from that time he saw them when they were teenagers_), they seem happier and when Kiba and Naruto start a competition over who can get the hottest chick to go home with them (_a competition that Shikamaru wins... somehow_) Naruto and Sakura share a smile and a look that says more in one moment that one can express in words over a longer period of time, Kankuro can see that Naruto isn't even trying to win and is just playing along because Kiba is his friend. Kankuro learns something about friendship that day.

--

When Kankuro was a small child he managed to 'escape' from Suna and spent two days lost in the desert. Suffering from heat stroke, dehydration and slight fatigue the (_not yet_) puppeteer began to see things, people he'd never met, things he'd never done. The young boy easily forgot the experience and chose instead to remember lessons on manners and shinobi skills.

To this very day Kankuro still gets déjà vu but can't ever remember where he's seen all these people and events before.


End file.
